The Role of Government in Youth Programs

Abstract

When children and adolescents are suffering from mental illness, behavioral health concerns, or substance abuse issues, the treatment they receive to overcome these problems must be introduced in a manner that is different than how it is addressed with adults. However, years down the line the adolescents that are vaunerble to this these issues are susceptible of being incarcerated. As a result mass incarceration takes place which has a negative affect on the governments budget. The increase spending of the budget would most likely result to a raise in taxes.The governments overspending could possibly lead to deficit and unbalanced budgets. The governments role in youth programs is to assure that the mass incarceration doesn’t continue to effect the government budget spending and resulting in economic issues

From our culture to our daily lives., government has continuously played a tremendous role in every aspect. I believe the most important role that government plays are investing in the youth. The governments duties for youth is to provide equal opportunities for all. Williams, A. (1937,Nov 1) The governments responsibility in the youth. The question is, How does government investment in the youth? One effective way is assuring that there are youth programs. The youth programs will help keep the incarceration rates low while providing guidance. If the incarceration rates continue to rise it could affect the economy negatively resulting in Tax inflation. The role of government in youth programs will create a balance of opportunity.

It is known that the guidance placement services actually keep the youth from being incarcerated. In the year ofHigh rates of crime and incarceration impose tremendous costs on society, with lasting negative effects on individuals, families, and communities. Keary, M.(2014,Dec 22) Crime rates in the United States have been falling steadily, but still constitute a serious economic and social challenge. At the same time, both crime scholars and policymakers alike question whether incarceration rates in the United States are too high. With more than 700 out of every 100,000 people incarcerated, we must ask whether the social costs exceed the social benefits, for non-violent criminals in particular.

How has the Incarnation Numbers Increased?

The United States is the world's leader in incarceration with 2.2 million people currently in the nation's prisons and jails — a 500% increase over the last forty years. The increase comes from the changes in law instead of it changing the crime rates. These trends have resulted in prison overcrowding and fiscal burdens on states to accommodate a rapidly expanding penal system, despite increasing evidence that large-scale incarceration is not an effective means of achieving public safety. Nellis, A. (2016). Still Life. So lets get into detail about Mass incarceration.

Departments for Families Youth Programs

In the state o Washington, The Department of Social and health services included programs from the children’s andminstrations. In July 2019 the department will administer programs offered by juvenile justice. According to Governor Jay Inslee, the primary role of these programs are for seving children and youth families.

What Role does Government Play in these Programs?

The federal grant money nonprofits receive is public, taxpayer money. That means the federal government is obligated to award grants to nonprofits (and others) through an open, transparent, and objective review process.

What Youth Program I Volunteered for ?

The Police Athletic League of North Miami’s (PAL of North Miami) mission is to cultivate the partnership between parents, schools, the community, and the police department in order to develop productive, active leaders from our communities’ youth.

The Police Athletic League of North Miami (PALNM) is a non-profit organization that consists of police officers, educators, business and civic leaders, parents, and citizens of the North Miami community to provide programs for our youth. PALNM was made to fill a need for youth from the ages of eight to eighteen.. The sole purpose of the PALNM program is to meet the needs of our youth through a variety of educational programs utilizing positive role models such as police officers, educators, and community volunteers in informal settings other than the structured classroom environment. Some activities include boxing, track and field, Youth Development Council, Junior Police Cadet, and the Explorer Program. PALNM also provides educational services such as after school help with homework in English, Reading, and Math.

PALNM is constantly striving to expand upon its programs to enhance the youths’ knowledge and broaden their experiences through the program’s services. Our goal is to provide youth healthy physical and mental fitness, good sportsmanship, and high moral and civic values. (Natile, 2016).

How does Pal Relate to Government?

Kathleen Miles (2014) stated that, in 1970, only 16 percent of the federal prison population had been incarcerated due to drug offenses. Since then, the percentage raised to over half of the inmates that are incarcerated (Miles 2014). What does this mean to Pal? It means that the very reason that we have youth programs such as this one, will be able to help lower the rates of incarceration by positively influencing younger individuals. Keeping the youth out of prison could balance out the governments economic budget. Mass incarceration as an institution plays a critical but underappreciated role in channeling class conflict in of the working class who are largely excluded from the formal labor market.

Long Term

Not having youth programs is basically like a domino effect. The first stage would be the adolecents who don’t have structural stability. The second would be jail/prison. Third stage would be Mass incarceration. How will this affect the government some may say. Well, in the long run, as mentioned above, mass incarceration could be very costly. Not only that it is costly, the prisons are running out of space to keep the incarcerated individuals. The individuals whom are incarcerated get dental care, medical care, and so forth but all of this adds up to where it is costing so much money. Many of the incarcerated individuals would get out of jail and go right back in because everything in the prisom was give to them free. So how do we lower the incarceration rates while managing to budget? That is where youth programs come into play. The youth programs will then allow them to have resources. The impact that these programs have can possibly alter the outcome of their lives. Now the next and most important question of all is, who pays for the youth programs amd how do they get funded?

Budget

Due to the fact that I have volunteerd for a non profit youth program, I Belive it is best to see which is more coast effective. Is it cheaper to just lock everyone up in prison? Or would it be better to develop more youth programs? Lets take a look at Ramírez is one of thousands of teens who pass through New York City’s juvenile justice system every year. This system costs city and state billions of dollars annually. I believe the city spends more money to detain or incarcerate a teenager per year than it spends on education. Even with recent attempts by the city to lower its juvenile justice bill, advocates familiar with the system still think the financial burdens on the city and young people’s families are too high. One program, which lobbies for reduced juvenile incarceration is the faith-based Bronx organization Urban Youth Alliance International. The organization specializes in providing mentorship and academic programs to teens who would have otherwise gone to a detention center. Rev. Wendy Calderon Payne, the group’s executive director, said that the city and state pay too much to incarcerate, detain and rehabilitate New York City’s juvenile delinquents. “It’s a little ridiculous that we spend more to detain a youth for 12 months than you do on the educational system.” Rev. Calderon Payne said that the Alliance’s program for incarcerated youth is cheaper for the city. The alliance’s eight- to 10-month alternative-to-incarceration program costs about $6,200 per youth – less than a quarter of what the state pays to incarcerate a teen for a year. (Payne, 2010) In 2010 New York State spent $266,000 on each incarcerated young adult, according to the Office of Children and Family Services (OCFS), the state agency overseeing adoptions, abandonment and juvenile justice. In comparison, New York City’s Department of Education spent on average $18,500 per student that same year. That’s a ratio of about 1:14.

Conclusion

In collusion I believe that the government role in youth programs such as the Police Athletic league, has a role to assure that there is a better future for the youth while making sure the economy does not fall apart because of overspending. Jim Powell is a senior fellow at the Cato Institute. He too believes that spending makes things more expensive, causes chronic inefficiencies and leads to more debt and financial bubbles. (Opinion F. Oct, 2011)